Auspherix, a biopharmaceutical spin-out of University of Technology Sydney (UTS), has raised an additional AU$1m ($880,000) to top up its series A from Australia’s Medical Research Commercialisation Fund. The fund had previously invested AU$1m.
Auspherix, which has developed an anti-infective drug discovery programme, was spun out in 2013. Its technology could allow the development of antibiotics capable of treating resistant bacterial diseases. The company was founded by Ian Charles, director of the university’s ithree institute, and Dagmar Alber, senior research fellow.
The company will use the fresh funding to advance its lead compounds and screen them in in vivo models with the support of Evotec.
It is expecting to raise further investment in the near future to advance its candidates into pre-clinical and clinical trials.
Ian Charles, co-founder at Auspherix, said: “It is now widely recognised that we desperately need to find new ways to combat infectious diseases including resistant bacterial infections. At Auspherix we are making rapid advances in optimising potential antibacterial compounds with completely novel chemical structures which, if successful, will deliver the drugs needed to keep the threat from superbugs in check.”
